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Post by rwctlc1107 on Sept 2, 2006 0:24:46 GMT
So BBCA pretty much sucks. It took 1.5 yrs to get HEX to us?!?! I was looking at their channel lineup today and they had shows that were made back in 1997 showing!! And they show Benny Hill which I hate. I have watched every episode of "cash in the attic" a gazillion times( i have the hots for alistair appleton and paul hayes) and of changing rooms also. I really enjoyed Shakespeare Retold. I do watch Footballers Wives off and on and I have caught a few episodes of Life on Mars. What shows that you guys love am I missing out on?? I am willing to buy DVDs if there is anything really good I am missing out on!! THe funny thing is a few years ago my husband and I took a vacation to London ad I remember thinking that TV was horrible. Now I wish I would have paid more attention!
Tina
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Post by fenris on Sept 2, 2006 12:50:54 GMT
Here's a few British shows that are personal favourites of mine. Some may have been screened in America (on BBC America or elsewhere), but I'm afraid I don't know if they're available in Region 1 DVD; Comedy: in my humble opinion Coupling is the funniest sitcom ever made. It's about the changing friendships & relationships within a group of six people - three men and three women - and this meant it was often unfairly dismissed as just 'the UK version of Friends', but l consider it as being far superior to that series. Coupling ran from 2000 - 2004. There was an unsuccessful U.S. remake a couple of years ago. Spaced is another sitcom, a fast-paced, off-kilter series about two friends (male & female) platonically sharing a flat, with the other main characters being the assorted weirdos and hangers-on who form their social circle. It's stuffed full of sci-fi and comic book references and in-jokes, and only ran for two series. Most of the cast and crew from Spaced later made the movie Shaun of the Dead. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a hilarious spoof of genre television, supposedly about a horror TV show made back in the Eighties that was reportedly banned for being too terrifying, and is only now being allowed to be shown. Cue incredibly bad acting, terrible dialogue, cardboard sets, jumpy editing, extremely lame special effects, etc. I can also recommend three short-live series that all spoofed news/current affairs programmes: The Day Today and Brass Eye (which were both screened in the Nineties), and the more recent Broken News. Drama/genre: Second Sight was a series that was shown 2000 - 2001. Clive Owen played a senior police detective who discovered he was suffering from a rare medical condition that was slowly destroying his sight. Not ready to be invalided out of the force, he hid his ailment from his colleagues and struggled to cope with his increasing blindness - only to find himself experiencing bizarre and unsettling (psychic?) visions. Strange first appeared as a pilot episode in 2002 and returned as a six part series the following year. Jeff Coyle played the title character, ex-priest turned demon hunter John Strange. For more information, there's previously been a thread dedicated to this show; hexfan.proboards28.com/index.cgi?board=generalchat&action=display&thread=1147468862 Sea of Souls is about a group of researchers at Glasgow University, investigating the supernatural and paranormal. It's lasted three years, but I personally didn't think much of this show until it underwent a major change in format in the third season, and became much improved as a result. Life on Mars debuted earlier this year. John Simm plays a police detective who gets knocked down by a car and wakes up to find himself in 1973. As he tries to work out what's happened (as he actually traveled back in time, or is he merely lying in hospital in a coma?), he has to cope with the culture clash of day-to-day live and police procedure as it was three decades ago.
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Post by kittygobonkers on Sept 4, 2006 17:14:09 GMT
Ooooooooo watch Bad Girls ;D
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Post by Jimjamz on Sept 4, 2006 19:43:23 GMT
Ooooooooo watch Bad Girls ;D Took the wors right out of my mouth ;D Its BRILLIANT! Ithink BBC America show it...
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Post by rwctlc1107 on Sept 5, 2006 0:41:03 GMT
They dont show bad girls anymore. I did watch the Kumars at no40(or is it 42) friday nite and it was pretty darn funny.
Tina
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Post by fenris on Jan 25, 2007 15:43:29 GMT
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Post by krusty ketchup on Jan 29, 2007 9:33:29 GMT
One of my personal favourites is Judge John Deed!!! Its very law orientated but its a really good engaging programme!
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Post by fenris on Feb 17, 2007 14:52:16 GMT
There was a wonderful little series called Murder in Suburbia that debuted in the UK on ITV1 back in 2004. Shown in a primetime slot on Saturday evenings, it was dismissed by the critics, but enough people watched it for the show to be renewed. The second (and final) season was screened in 2005. In total, twelve episodes were produced.
Set in the fictitious town of Middleford, in the commuter belt of the London overspill, the series was about a pair of female detectives: the reserved, middle class and privately-educated DI Kate Ashurst (played by Caroline Catz), who dressed conservatively and always had her brunette hair held firmly in place, and her partner; the blonde, working class and laid back DS Emma Scribbins (Lisa Faulkner), a 'jeans and cut-price-store jumpers' type of girl. Together, the two of them were seemingly always being assigned to investigate murders that occurred amongst the large detached houses and well-kept lawns of Middleford's suburbs.
Murder in Suburbia was a curious show. The series was well made, but it's content was somewhat lightweight. The scripts and plotlines weren't particularly original and rarely rose above the average. And although the cast never failed to acquit themselves as anything other than talented professionals, the show lacked any truly outstanding, gripping or sparkling performances. But despite all this Murder in Suburbia was always highly watchable.
In my opinion, this was because it was just so different to the vast majority of current British TV cop shows. Most detective series of the last decade have been either dark, gritty, urban dramas (Rebus, Taggart, Waking the Dead, 55 Degrees North, The Vice, Messiah, etc) or set in the lush English countryside (Midsomer Murders, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Morse, Wycliffe), and nearly always featured middle aged policemen who are haunted and troubled by all the terrible things they've seen, and can't hold down longterm relationships because they're so dedicated to their jobs.
In this context, Murder in Suburbia is a true rule-breaker. 'Ash' and 'Scribbs' (as the two leads refer to each other) may deal with death and deceit every day, but they seem to effortlessly switch off and leave it all behind the moment they step out of the office every evening. This was probably because the producers and writers intended for the series to be nothing more than lighthearted viewing on a Saturday evening, as opposed to anything dark and disturbing. But the way I've always liked to rationalise Ash and Scribbs' attitude was that as two young women in their late twenties, they've grown up in a world of 24 hour television, multiple news channels and the internet. Like most young adults, they've realised at an early age that the world in an awful place in which people do terrible things to each other. It's not that Ash and Scribbs don't care about man's inhumanity to man - it's just that it doesn't surprise them.
One thing that the duo do have in common with their older, male TV peers is their crap personal lives and complete failure rate when it comes to relationships. However, with Ash and Scribbs it isn't their job that keeps getting in the way of them finding and keeping boyfriends, but the fact that there just don't seem to be any decent single men left anymore. One running joke/subplot that is maintained throughout both seasons is the pair's fixation with their enigmatic, handsome boss, DCI Sullivan (Jeremy Sheffield), who keeps his life outside work a closed book. As a result, Ash and Scribbs endlessly speculate about him, looking for any telltale signs that he has a girlfriend, is married, or maybe even gay.
Thanks to the performances of Catz and Faulkner, the two lead characters are both extremely likable, and their constant verbal analysing of their personal lives (which could potentially have become irritating if badly handled) is actually quite endearing. Interestingly, there's a quiet but unavoidable subtext throughout the series that there may be a considerable amount of sexual tension between Ash and Scribbs themselves. This is openly embraced by the scriptwriters in the final episode, in which - on the pretext of re-enacting a drowning - Ash manhandles Scribbs in a bathtub full of bubblebath. This is immediately followed by a scene in which the two 'tecs bicker like a married couple while Scribbs throws her knickers (soaking wet due to her dunking in the bath) over a radiator to dry. The two of them proceed share a bed for the night - strictly as friends and professional colleagues of course, but we're still treated to the sight of Ash pacing about in her nightgown, discussing the murder, while Scribbs - already tucked up underneath the covers - pleads "Please come to bed Ash."
Murder in Suburbia is mostly forgotten here in the UK, despite still getting occasionally repeated on ITV3. However, having been shown in the U.S. (on BBC America) and Canada, the series seems to have developed a small but loyal cult following on that side of the Atlantic. For example, the first season is available on Region 1 DVD in America, but has never been released on Region 2 over here. And while the show currently doesn't have a large presence on the internet, there's a surprising amount of facfic about the series, almost exclusively (and not so surprisingly) about the Ash-Scribbs relationship.
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Post by fenris on Mar 3, 2007 14:54:21 GMT
Some more info about Murder in Suburbia. I saw the series when it was originally screened on what is now ITV 1, and although I enjoyed it, I have to confess that subsequently I didn't give the show much thought. However I watched some episodes again when the series was recently repeated on ITV3, and swiftly remembered just how entertaining this show had been. One episode in particular might be of interest to Hex fans: the opener of the second season, entitled 'Witches' (For some reason, none of the episodes in the first season were given titles, instead they were officially called 'Episode 1', 'Episode 2', etc. But all six instalments of the second season had individual titles). The story has Ash and Scribbs dealing with the case of a teenage girl stabbed to death in a graveyard in the middle of the night. Their investigation focuses on the school attended by the victim, and three of her fellow pupils: her athlete boyfriend, a spoilt bitch love rival (played by Sugar Rush's Olivia Hallinan) and a goth girl outsider (Montserrat Lombard) whom the victim regularly bullied. Digging deeper, the two 'tecs discover that the victim was a practicing witch and promptly find themselves stumbling across all kinds of seemingly supernatural goings-on, including hex dolls in their own likenesses, plus occult symbols drawn on walls and floors. Considering that Murder in Suburbia was clearly supposed to be reasonably undemanding mainstream viewing, there are quite a few quietly creepy moments in 'Witches', and it practically qualifies as an unashamed genre crossover. During scenes in which Ash and Scribbs make their way through the graveyard at night, or enter the catacombs under the local church, you almost expect to see them bump into John Strange and Jude Atkins from BBC1's Strange, or alternatively catch a glimpse of Ella digging up Maya's grave in the background. It really does seem as though the two policewomen have wandered out of TV copland, taken a wrong turn and ended up in the Hexverse. 'Witches' also benefits from a great performance from Montserrat Lombard as the goth. I've seen this impressive actress in several series, and I've always thought that if Hex had carried on into a third season, she would have been an ideal addition to the cast. Incidentally, among the many familiar faces who guest-starred in Murder in Suburbia was our very own Anna Wilson-Jones ( Hex's Jo). She appeared in a first season episode alongside a pre- Casualty Georgina Bouzova, who played a stag night stripper. And former Sci-Fright host and Bond girl Rachel Grant portrayed a victim in the second season. Since my previous post about the show (above) I've discovered that Murder in Suburbia has also been screened in France (where it's called Ash & Scribbs), Switzerland and Australia. For more information about this overlooked series, here's a link to an on-line community I've found, that contains numerous goodies including screen caps, fanfic, and some tongue-in-cheek but very insightful analysis of individual episodes, focusing on any telltale signs of a non-platonic relationship between the two characters; community.livejournal.com/ashscribbs
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Post by fenris on Apr 30, 2007 19:46:55 GMT
Second Sight was a series that was shown 2000 - 2001. Clive Owen played a senior police detective who discovered he was suffering from a rare medical condition that was slowly destroying his sight. Not ready to be invalided out of the force, he hid his ailment from his colleagues and struggled to cope with his increasing blindness - only to find himself experiencing bizarre and unsettling (psychic?) visions. Just spotted this item on today's IMDB news page; British TV Series May Become U.S. Movie. Second Sight, a popular BBC detective series about a detective feverishly attempting to solve a murder after learning that he is going blind -- and trying to hide that fact from his superiors -- may be made into a theatrical movie by Universal, Daily Variety reported today (30/04/07). The TV series - which appeared on PBS's Masterpiece Theater in the U.S. - originally starred Clive Owen in the role of the visually impaired detective. But Variety said that Owen has not been signed to the theatrical version.
Copyright: Studio Briefing.Sounds intriguing, but it's a shame Clive Owen's not involved. It also may be slightly redundant, as there was a similarly themed American TV series screened in 2005 called Blind Justice. It was about a detective who managed to get himself fully reinstated in the police force, despite being registered blind following a head injury received in the line of duty.
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Post by Beattie~Babe on Jul 24, 2007 19:43:16 GMT
I know it reached Canadian and Australian shores a few months ago, but I loved Primeval ...... Ive just had a look at the BBC America Homepage.... I cant belive how much rubbish theyre showing.
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Post by fenris on Jul 24, 2007 22:25:00 GMT
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Post by Beattie~Babe on Jul 24, 2007 22:46:33 GMT
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Post by WarrenWitchesRule on Jul 24, 2007 23:22:05 GMT
Has anyone been watching Jekyll on BBC1? I originally tuned in as I'm a huge fan of the story and thought that the amazingly talented Stephan Moffett would bring a fresh and modern twist to the tale. Boy I wasn't wrong, it has had suprises all along and Jimmy Nesbitt has now made it onto my official (mental) favourite actors list. The only other person I could have seen playing the character(s) is Michael Fassbender as both of them seem to have this fantastic ability to make you feel as though you're watching two different people acting the parts when in fact it is just one person. It's the last episode on Thursday, I haven't a clue how it is going to end, and I'm crossing my fingers, toes, feet-well you get the drift-that it doesn't completly suck, as an unresolved or silly ending would spoil the whole series.
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Post by aquarius on Jul 25, 2007 14:35:29 GMT
That's good to know. Jekyll is premiering on BBCA the first weekend of August. It looked pretty good, but here in the US they have a bad habit of using a trailer to show you the only good parts of something that otherwise sucked. I'm really looking forward to it now.
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